This article is a great follow up to my Earth Day post. It's about the actions that Busch Entertainment Company is taking in its Theme Parks to be more 'green.' Seen above, several of the company's parks are using disposable plates, silverware, and napkins that are made from organic natural materials so they are fully biodegradable.

The items break down in a matter of months, instead of hundreds of years that typical disposable food items take.

Busch says this is just the start of their plans to be more green, and that more bio-friendly developments will take place in the coming years.

Also of note is that the volume of items used in the parks has actually allowed Busch to negotiate with suppliers for products, meaning that overall costs are lessened. The point of that is - all it took was one big company to make a decision and they were able to use their size to make a change!

Here is a video of Hong Kong Disneyland's It's a Small World ride, which just had it's official opening a day or so ago.

I can honestly say that after watching this I sorta disagree with the whole "don't change Disneyland's Small World" effort. Yes, you can spot some of the Disney characters if you try, but really - the general effect of the ride is the exact same.

So then it just comes down to resisting change, and well, like I said in an earlier post I personally think that Walt wouldn't want his park to be a museum.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

This week's topic asks a fairly simple question: does theming on a coaster matter to you?

Obviously there is a spectrum of sorts involved in what constitutes the theming on a ride. A ride with no theming would be something along the lines of Steel Force at Dorney Park. There's no attempt at all of a theme, it has a nicely done sign but that's about it.

Then you have rides like Tony Hawk's Big Spin at the Six Flags parks. Here you have an attraction that has a loose theme, but not one that translates to the entire ride. It has a themed entrance and queue, and there is a general 'idea' to the attraction - but at the end it's still a car on the steel rails and not much else.

Next I'd say there is a bracket of coasters that are like Superman Escape at Warner Brothers Movie World in Australia. Here with have a storyline, themed queue, partially themed ride, and then at the end again just steel rails.Finally, we have the coasters that are themed to a high level. Here we have attractions such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Expedition Everest from Disney, and technically I'd even say the new Dark Knight coasters at Six Flags this year.All that considered, does theming really matter to you as a coaster rider? Are the millions that are sometimes spent on theming a ride really worth it for the parks?

To me, in a word, yes. For my personal preference, theming adds a ton to the ride. I think that it sparks a rider's imagination and makes things far more interesting. I'm probably pretty far at the end of the spectrum on this one; I'd even say that I would rather have a lesser physical ride in order to have more theming.

Do you agree? Would you rather have a Steel Force, a big hyper coaster, or a Dark Knight, basically a Wild Mouse in a box with lots of theming?

Six Flags Over Georgia just put out a press release stating that from right now until the end of the season they are cutting $10 off their general admission price, from $49.99 to $39.99. This marks the lowest price for general admission to the park since the year 2000.

I have a feeling this is going to be a trend we'll see more of this summer as the tourism industry scrambles to attract customers. Yeah yeah, these kinds of parks are more 'local' attractions than say Disney World, but they still can be costly if you have a big family.

It's a smart move for press and such at the very least, discount coupons are probably available to let guests in for that amount anyway, so they're probably not going to hurt their per caps that much in the end - but they sure look good doing it.

Monday, April 28, 2008

There's lots of fountains in front of and behind the ride car, it looks like those volcanoes will shoot fire, and it's said that the front pond is laced with gas lines for more fire effects.

I'm really happy Cedar Fair took the time to make this ride look as nice as they did ... and with the new theming in the Crypt at Kings Island - perhaps my doom'n'gloom on Cedar Fair never theming anything was wrong!? I hope so!

Screamscape has published some layout renderings of Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit at Universal Studios Florida.The ride looks awesome! Here's the link to Screamscape's photos. From these images we can gather that Rockit will:

• be 167 ft. tall• go 65 m.p.h.• be 3,800 ft. long (that's a long ride!)• have a "doubletake" - non-inverting loop• have a high speed upward helix, twisting camel back, freefall drop, over banked turns, sideways drop in a chasm, a sideways loop, and high speed ground maneuvers• have multiple block breaks allowing 4 trains on the track at a time

I'm waaay more excited for this ride now that these renderings and additional info have leaked out!

Curiously, the Big Dipper is no longer mentioned in the brochure at all as a ride that is being auctioned. A lot of other rides that were for sale are no longer listed either, like the Beaver Land family coaster, a monster ride, some children's rides, Pirate's flight, El Dorado, and more.

The carousel and ferris wheel were never listed as for sale, and still are not. (both rumored to go to World of Fun) Same for the Boomerang coaster, that was never listed either.

I still do not understand why Cedar Fair isn't keeping some stuff, like the SCS Interactive foam ball play area, I mean they added one to Worlds of Fun and Valleyfair! - why not use another you already own? Who knows...

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Today we have a special treat – an interview with Chuck Hutchison, the Public Relations Manager for Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. Mr. Hutchison was kind enough to sit down and share with NewsPlusNotes plenty of information about the amusement park’s 2008 season. That said, let’s begin.

NewsPlusNotes: Let’s start with Voodoo. Did construction go as planned?

Chuck Hutchison: Construction went well, we worked with local companies as much as possible, and seemed to fly through the first phases.

When the first parts started arriving in September, our teams immediately started the shuffle of keeping the "paint shop" in good supply of work. As I talked about in the blog, they sand blasted each piece and sent it off to a secondary facility for non-destructive weld testing. That is an interesting process to watch. They essentially turn the piece into an electromagnet by running current through it, and then blow this magnetic dust over the welds looking for lines to form that would indicate a weakened or stressed weld.

After each piece passes its inspection it headed back to a huge paint chamber to receive primer, color, and top coat layers. The winter season was pretty nice to us, having caused only a week or so worth of cumulative delays. Steel went up in a matter of about two work weeks, and now I think we are all a bit amazed at how great the ride looks and what it does for Dorney's skyline.

NPN: Any details of what kind of refurbishment the ride went though after being moved from Geauga Lake?

CH: Other refurbishments include new foam padding on all the restraints, new seats, and a random assortment of other new hardware and small parts that were just better replaced than refurbished.

NPN: Is there any background on where the name Voodoo came from? Were any alternate names considered?

CH: Shhh.... It's a secret, well not really but this does seem to be the big mystery. The artwork and name were simply a joint effort of some of our veteran employees who were able to bring together the essence and magic of the ride. They quickly won the support of senior management and corporate Planning and Development who know a good thing when they see it.

NPN: Are the holding-brakes still planned on being used on the straight tower?

CH: Just called and confirmed to be sure. Holding brakes are a go!

NPN: Great! Will there be an on-ride photo or video available?

CH: No on-ride photo or video for Voodoo. From my understanding, it is pretty difficult / near impossible to install those types of systems on this type of coaster. Now that I said that I'm sure you'll shoot me tons of examples of where it's been done or something, but regardless, we are focusing on the ride, the frills could come later.

NPN: Actually, no rides like this with on-ride photos come to mind! Has the ride started testing yet/are we looking good for a May 3rd opening?

CH: The best laid plans are always subject to change, but yes, Voodoo's ETA is still May 3rd, opening day! There is a lot to do between now and then, but the park is buzzing with activity to try to hit the date.

NPN: How about the park’s rides in general. Are any rides or attractions not returning to the park for 2008?

CH: Nope, all rides are a go. Laser will most likely have a late start due to ongoing maintenance, but we expect it will be online around Memorial Day weekend.

NPN: Have any rides seen upgrades of any sort? (like The Whip’s new floor)

CH: You stole my thunder. The first thing I would say is the Whip's new floor. I hear word that Ferris Wheel got a new computer, control system, and software.

NPN: Wildwater Kingdom has seen expansion the past two seasons, has the water park expanded to meet attendance demands?

CH: We focused on Wildwater Kingdom for the past two years for a few reasons, attendance demands being just one. Our waterpark guests needed another high capacity, general admission attraction. They asked, and we answered with Wildwater Cove. We also recognized the need to manage the balance of attendance between Dorney Park proper and Wildwater Kingdom. Adding AquaRacer served to achieve a better balance of guest flow between parks, just the same way that Voodoo will counterbalance and increase traffic to that area of the park this season. It's a constant juggle.

CH: I don't have any hard ridership figures on my desk, but from my recollection, and experiences in the park with guests, I think they loved it. The line was always long indicating great interest, and six riders at a clip made it move much faster than traditional water slide installations. Our guests seem to love the competitive nature of racing their friends to the finish too. Overall, I think it was a hit.

NPN: I tried out AquaRacer many times, it’s a ton of fun! What live entertainment will we see at the park this year?

CH: Fancy Pants Entertainment is back with two all new musical reviews: HEAT, and Dancing Under the Stars. The amazing magic of Michael Mage will be integrated into the Dancing Under the Stars evening shows for a special "Spellbound" magical musical review. Of course planning for HAUNT is underway and we will have some special spooky shows for you then too.

NPN: Any new food offerings at the park for this season?

CH: Mix-it-up slushees should be fun, and messy. It's like sand art for slushees!

NPN: Sounds fun – I’ll have to try one! How about merchandise and games, any new or changed locations to look forward to?

CH: Voodoo's supporting store, formerly known as DropShop has received a face lift inside and out as well as new displays. It will be opening on May 3rd as Possessions, and will carry some pretty cool new Voodoo themed merchandise. Laser shot was of course moved about 30 feet to the right to accommodate Voodoo, and in the process got a nice face lift as well.

NPN: Are there any other general changes or upgrades to look for this year?

CH: New equipment in the Season Pass / Guest services building creates photo ID's that are now all black and white for faster line processing!

NPN: How about for the employee side of the park?

CH: I noticed a new seating area for employees on the ramp up to the employee cafe.

NPN: Let’s move on to the Haunt at Dorney Park. What new attractions will The Haunt Feature?

CH: First let me say that HAUNT is awesome. I also must stress that although Dorney is a family park all year, HAUNT nights after 6pm are strongly not recommended for kids. We are using the age of 13 as a recommended age cut off, but really, parental discretion is advised.

Club Blood indoor maze is a nightclub of the vampire underground that will be a new building near White Water Landing to be constructed this summer. CornStalkers outdoor maze will be the longest walkthrough scare area where guests will experience a flashback to when the property was farmland, the scarecrows and farmhands are back to reclaim their fields! Terror Square will consume the Hydra / Game Day Grille plaza with monsters.

HAUNT means Dorney will have approximately 300 more employees for the season, most of those being costumed positions. Auditions will be late August or Early September so stay tuned, we want all of you. HAUNT website is scheduled for August 1st, and don't forget to look for the hearse to come by your neighborhood!

NPN: Sounds fantastic. Is Cedar Freak Cannonball coming back?

CH: The Cannonball will run during the days until about 6pm. It will be less haunted than in the past, more for families and kids, and will be laid to rest in piece each night before CornStalkers opens up for the evening.

CH: CornStalkers will occupy nearly the entire length of the access road between Dorney and Wildwater Kingdom. The walk starts at the gate just past the Wildwater Kingdom locker area, goes all the way down the access road to the Cannonball crossing that leads to Wildwater Kingdom, makes a left down that path, through Thunder Canyon exit plaza, and finally ends right near the entrance to Thunder Canyon.

NPN: That's a long walk, now I'm even more excited for CornStalkers. Is there a more specific theme available for Terror Square?

CH: Terror Square needs no specifics, it's a huge free flowing area of monsters and mayhem. But, I don't know if you can handle it so you better stay away!

The Niagara's Fury website has been updated with another teaser video for everyone to watch. They still give pretty much nothing away though, what the actual ride/attraction is shall remain a mystery for now.

The attraction is supposed to open in June, so I hope they kick this mysterious media campaign into high gear and start revealing stuff soon!

Yesterday was Six Flags Great America's opening day as well. Fan site SFGAmWorld.com has a wonderful photo report up of all the changes at the park.

The Dark Knight coaster is not ready yet, but there are plenty of photos. Also, a bunch of DejaVu is still standing, and the removed Splashwater Falls ride can be seen. Raging Bull has also received a great new paint job which is almost complete.

Two news items from Ohio's Kings Island. First, Robbie Knievel is going to jump 24 Coke Zero trucks on May 24th at the park. His father did a historic jump of 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island back in 1975.

Also, it turns out that Kings Island did not only change the name of Tomb Raider to The Crypt, but did some significant retheming inside the attraction, and also is now running the ride on a more intense program. Kings Island Central has published some photos from inside the queue, which now looks rather like a haunted house, sorta.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Two new park maps to stare at today, the first is Carowinds 2008 park map. Take note that it was not Cedar Fair-ized for this season. That means that only Kings Dominion and Canada's Wonderland received that treatment this year.

Those were the only two Paramount Parks without maps done by Citigraph, perhaps the other parks had a multi-year deal? We'll see in the future I guess.

The other item is Dorney Park's 2008 map. Not too much different here ... aside from Voodoo, of course. Unless I'm missing something?

Thanks very much to one of our readers, Dave, I can share with you a photo of Voodoo at Dorney Park at night. I'm so very glad that they went with flood lights for the towers, this type of lighting is always very impressive at night.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland had its media day today! The shot above and below are from this set of videos from CTV News. The ride looks like it's trims and mid-course were on pretty light and the train was moving at a good clip in the latter half of the ride.

The shot below is from the National Post, I just really liked the image - it's refreshing to see shots of a coaster that has riders with arms up while riding.

The park is making some significant progress with the ride. As you can see in the photo above (you'll have to head to CoasterCrew for the big version) the newly refurbed trains look ready to go with a sleek purple and orange color scheme.

I can't think of another B&M off the top of my head with that much purple on the trains ... that's something new!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

This week's topic comes from A Walk In The Park Blog and is about Disney's Animal Kingdom's 10th anniversary. You can read their original post by clicking here.

This is another great topic for me, because I love Animal Kingdom. I'm fairly sure (sorta indecisive by nature) that it's my favorite Disney Park in Orlando. Like in the article at A Walk In The Park, I've had the chance to visit Animal Kingdom many times since it opened in 1998, and thus I've also watched the park grow and mature.

Even though the park was pretty bare when I first visited, in '99, I fell in love with the feeling, mood, and general theme of the park. To be honest, I'm not even a huge animal fan. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful to see creatures I'll probably never see elsewhere in my life, but I'm by no means a fanatic.

Like I said, the theme and mood of the park are what hooked me in. Like in the photo above, if one had no idea the park existed I highly doubt they'd ever guess that this photo was taken in a theme park - aside from the crowd and tourist looking outfits.

The park themes itself on reality, and does not apologize for it - which is what I love so much. Stuff looks dirty, gritty, real - and not in the Haunted Mansion way, there's no fantasy element in most of the theming. Even an attraction like Everest that does feature a massive fantasy creature presents itself as a reality, the queue is used, abused, sometimes messy, but overall real feeling.Personally, that's what hooked my interest. Oddly enough, I'd almost prefer another continent themed area to Beastly Kingdom (or whatever version of it ends up going in) - so as not to break the 'real' theme the park has.

But don't get me wrong, I'll scream with glee past all Dragons, Unicorns, and Mythical Creatures that Disney may want to throw at me!

According to this article from NOLA.com, there has been a new proposal submitted for the redevelopment of Six Flags New Orleans as another mega amusement park. Southern Star Amusement Group has submitted a plan to the city of New Orleans the proposes spending $70 million to reopen the park by next summer.

The group also submitted a letter from Six Flags saying they are in talks with them to purchase the land and the lease they had with the city to operate the park.

Southern Star wants to have a water park opened on the site by 2009, which will be expanded upon for several years after that. Plans also included doubling the number of rides at the facility, adding an RV park, creating 5 new themed areas in the amusement park, and eventually trying to expand the property into a full resort.

These are some seriously ambitious plans, but if they can go through that'd be great! Another attempt at a theme park on the site would be better than it sitting and rotting like it is now.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Darien Lake Theme Park has renamed their new coaster for 2008, MotoCoaster. The park has teamed up with Orange County Choppers and will now call the ride the Orange County Choppers MotoCoaster.

The ride will be featured on the TLC show "American Chopper" and the park is having a special motorcycle designed for the ride which will premier at its grand opening on May 16th. The stars of the show will also make several live appearances at the park over the summer months.

While the name lacks in the creativity department, that's a pretty cool match up. And I must admit, I've totally watched the show before. Good news, Darien Lake!

Sesame Place's new carousel will be called Sunny Day Carousel and feature 36 horses that will look like Sesame Place style characters, as well as two Snuffleupagus styled chariot benches, according to this article from PhillyBurbs.com.

The ride replaces the huge Big Bird head that used to be the entrance to a sky path that connected two ends of the park, which was closed years ago. The park, and the new ride, open for the 2008 season on May 3rd.

I know this park is small, but it's quite popular in the area - I hope Busch Entertainment continues to expand it in coming years.

There's plenty that both the amusement industry and its patrons can do to help our earth. Here's some amusement park related ideas to try during your visits this year:

• Visiting a park you are familiar with? Take a pass on that park map pamphlet your next trip - they just lay around later anyway, right? The U.S. alone cuts down millions of trees each year just for paper - why add to that?

• Skip that bottle of water or soda! Many parks will provide free H2O if you ask in a paper cup, which won't lay in a landfill for all of eternity.

• Are you going to buy a t-shirt or a teddy bear when you leave? Say no thanks to that plastic bag the cashier will whip out, instead carry your items and save the bag: they take over 100 years to break down!

• Carpool on your way! If you're going with friends, don't take two or more cars, meet up before hand and go in a few vehicles as possible. Not only will you help the earth, you'll also save on parking fees!

• Want to remember your trip with photos? If using a disposable camera ... make sure you have it developed at a retailer that promises to recycle your camera. Sadly, a surprisingly large percent of disposable cameras end up at the dump. Better yet, go digital and share your photos online, save the developing fee and use no paper!

Those are just some things we all can do; but we won't forget about the amusement park operators - they can play a role too. Actually, some have already taken the initiative toward more environmentally friendly practices.

Disney started a while ago, and has even purposely modified some attractions to make them more 'green.' And we can't forget Animal Kingdom, which has been very enviro-friendly since the start. Speaking of, happy 10th anniversary to one of my favorite parks, Animal Kingdom!

Universal Theme Parks have made big steps, too, they have their current "Green Is Universal" program running, and the parks are specifically participating as well, they're making much progress with bio-fuels in park vehicles - Universal Studios Hollywood is even having their Eco-Fair again this year with plenty of green ideas to be shared.

If they big guys can do it, other parks can, too! Especially corporate ones with the financial backing.

The addition to the park is looking great, I'm glad that they are re-theming the rides from when they were at Geauga Lake. From the concept art you couldn't fully tell if they would give them new backdrops and the like.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

New photos of the construction at Kings Island from the park's Eiffel Tower. They look to be hard at work digging and getting ready to pour the footers for the transfer area and brakes. The station footers look done.

In some of the other pictures you can see that there are some other footers ready to go up near that giant one in the planter. They're along the midway behind a new fence they put up. Meyerhaus also has plenty of other photos taken around the park.

The Disney Information Bulletin Board website has published these images of concept art for Sea World Orlando's new coaster in 2009, rumored to be named Manta.

Last I heard the announcement for the B&M Flying Coaster was to be in May, so I'm not sure how these turned up already. It's also odd that the ride's track color is different in each of the images. Maybe they were released on purpose by the park to drum up some more press?

If the concept art is real it certainly matches up with all the rumors we've heard about the ride, and the area around the attraction does look nice.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

I was looking at KICentral's photos of the construction area at Kings Island and then the graphic from First Drop magazine and decided to make a map to understand the whole thing better. Here's what I came up with quick:

It really does match up perfectly, I think. Those little footers that are totally like the ones for other B&M rides for station/transfer areas are right where they should be according to the First Drop image.

Also, that huge footer is located near where the higher portion of the ride's lift would be, which would explain why it's such a big footer.

The only part I'm not sure I agree with, and drew differently, is the track return into the helix. The First Drop image has the track crossing over in front of the entrance area to The Crypt - which would be odd and extremely ugly. So I have the return run come up on the other side of the Crypt's building, which makes a lot more sense to me. But I'm probably wrong, and they'll run the track right over the Crypt's entrance.

This construction schedule is even earlier than Hydra's was at Dorney Park - which should mean watching vertical construction all summer long while at the park.

Considering the park is already open for the 2008 season this is, well, rather late. But still let's take a look at it. That's a perfect example of a Cedar Fair brochure cover - half water park and half big ride. And of course 2 Great Parks For the Price of 1!

2nd Wave Pool is new for this year, another recent Cedar Fair trend that is a fantastic idea. Crowded wave pools are gross, not fun, and dangerous. (imo) This brochure also uses correct names for rides, like Nighthawk and Flight Deck.

Props for showcasing the Nickelodeon characters, please pay the licensing fee to expand the characters to the legacy parks, okay Cedar Fair?

And Scarowinds is equally important with so much attendance coming in during the fall for parks. Overall: not a bad brochure!

About NewsPlusNotes

NewsPlusNotes is a blog dedicated to the coverage of the amusement
industry. Our content runs the gamut from major industry headlines
to exclusive reports and items of historical significance. NewsPlusNotes
was founded in 2006, when Mike made the pivotal decision to share his
love of the industry with the world. Since then, what started out as
one enthusiast's hobby has grown to become one of the most widely known
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"NPN", as it is called by fans--now serves up content and commentary to
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NPN remained a solo effort until October 2008, when Mike welcomed three
new full-time contributors (Sabrina, Scott, and Carol) to the blog and the
"NPN team" was officially born. The team was again expanded in March of 2011 Kevin joined as a writer. Simply stated, we are a group of writers
who love the industry and it is our honor and privilege to share that
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strive to promote the enjoyment, celebration, and preservation of the
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